Friendship Series begins Tuesday

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The Daily Ardmoreite

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Posted Feb. 22, 2013 at 8:00 AM
Updated Feb 22, 2013 at 10:16 AM

Posted Feb. 22, 2013 at 8:00 AM
Updated Feb 22, 2013 at 10:16 AM

To kick off the "Let's Talk About It, Oklahoma" series on Friendship, Scholar Doug Watson will open at Chickasaw Regional (Public) Library System Headquarters with "Jacob Have I Loved" at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

This first program in the four part series will explore the power of friendship in Katherine Patterson's novel.

The story features a twin sister's struggle to mature as she is unable to sustain a consistent faith in her own values. Dr. Watson will discuss each of the characters in this Newbery Medal winner and explain how they result in positive or negative feelings to the reader. Questions will be addressed including, "Is there a change in Louise (the narrator) through the book?" "What motifs and images does the author use to reference the meaning of the story?" "For what audience do you think this book was written?"

Professor Watson is an Emeritus Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, where he taught poetry, American literature, Western and world civilization, children's literature, classical literature and composition from 1980 until May 2007. In 1988 and '89, Watson was a Fulbright lecturer in Nigeria, West Africa. In 2010, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame. Born and raised in the Texas panhandle, Watson attended Baylor, West Texas State (now A&M), Middlebury College and Texas Tech. He enjoys reading, fly fishing, gardening and working for the international development organization World Neighbors.

Other programs in the series are "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok with speaker William Hagen; "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker with scholar Ken Hada; and "Recovering: A Journal by May Sarton" with speaker Trisha Yarbrough.

Books, services, and other materials for this series of programs are provided by "Let's Talk About It, Oklahoma," a project of the Oklahoma Humanities Council with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of OHC or NEH.

This program is free and open to the public. To ask questions, call Pam Bean, Head Reference/Adult Programming Librarian at (580) 223-3164 or (888) 520-8103.